How To Take Manga Drawing Lessons

Japanese anime drawing or Manga is one of the most copied types of drawing skills in the world. Most kids aspire to know how to draw the characters they see on print and on TV. Their signature long legs, wide eyes, expressive faces, and textured hair, along with the funky outfits that sometimes include colorful socks have always been a subject of interest for most artists around the world. With today’s technology, drawing Manga from scratch is a lot easier with the help of image editing tools. There are also a lot of tutorial videos, text references and other instructional information that will help you bring your character to life. Here are some tips if you are committed in learning this trendy art.

Get your art materials ready! You first should make sure that you have all of your art materials with you. This includes several pieces of soft lead pencil, a drawing pad, some water color pencils, an eraser, and a quiet space for sketching. When you have all of these things with you, you can proceed to the next step. Now, if you are really serious, enrolling in a Manga drawing class will help immensely as well.

Choose an area you want to focus on. When drawing Manga, you should know what type of characters you want to start sketching. Are you going to try to draw kids first? Or are you more interested in sketching teenage girls? Knowing what you want to focus on will help you narrow down the first few tricks you need to learn.

Check out available books and online videos. Since sketching Manga is gaining popularity, there are a growing number of sketch books that will teach you how to proportion facial features, clothes, and length of limbs when drawing Manga. There are also a lot of instructional videos that will teach you how to make those adorable Japanese anime eyes.

Attend drawing classes and Manga conferences. Just like comic con, there is also an anime and Manga conference. If you are really serious about your sketching skills then go ahead and visit events like this. Most of the time, there are live sketching sessions that you can join. You can also observe the experts and ask for tips firsthand. There are also some classes available, especially during the weekends, for those who want to continue studying Manga art.

Start coloring your images. Once you are comfortable with your sketch, try to fill it with colors. You can start with some water color pencils where you can later blend the colors to achieve the desired effect. Sketching with water color pencils is also ideal for Manga so that the rough sketches have a glint of color in them early on.

With lots of practice and patience, you should be sketching Manga in no time. You can even buy blank magazines or comic-like booklets and sketch your own Manga comic book to hone your skills. Along with sketching people, you must also take special interest in what your character will be wearing since costumes and outfits are characteristic of Manga characters. Remember to have fun since this will definitely show in your final art work.